Amid fierce competition, WestJet will wind down its Swoop subsidiary by late October as it folds the budget airline’s operations under its main banner, the airline said Friday.
The move marks a major shift in Canada’s aviation skyscape, arriving five years after Swoop first surfaced as a response to discount rival Flair Airlines’ launch in 2017.
It also comes after pilots with WestJet and Swoop ratified a new collective agreement that brings them onto a level pay scale, and also gives them a 24 per cent hour pay bump over four years.
WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said he mulled keeping Swoop separate, but that higher wages for its flight crews made the option less feasible….